


Tapestry [Commission]

by bexacaust



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Found Family, Gen, Humanformers, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:14:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23962168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bexacaust/pseuds/bexacaust
Summary: No tapestry lasts forever- but by finding new pieces and new threads, it can be a story unending; so long as where bloodlines fail and end…. Kindred spirits join hands and succeed.
Relationships: Deadlock & Female OC, Drift & Female OC
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Of Birthdays and Brothers

_After so long feeling like she never fit somewhere, she realized that- imperfect as it was, perhaps these were the stitches holding her tapestry together._

_She set her drink down, shocked and suddenly fearful of the looming spectre of loss hovering at her ear with it’s old whispers-_

_Scarred hands on her shoulders- equal and yet not, same yet different. She looked up at the salt-and-and-moonbeam twins on either side of her, and leaned into their comforting smiles._

“ _Deep breaths, sis.”, rasped a war-ravaged voice as a sword-calloused hand ruffled her hair, “It’s alright, your brothers’re here.”_

“ _You’re right.”, she laughs, smacking at the hand messing up the her once-well styled hair, “You are.”_

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=

It began, as many things did, with a simple question. Kris sat- well, lounged really, on one of the cushioned benches beneath one of the many tapestries in Megatron’s old Hall. She looked over the roughstitch and coarse weaving; the depiction of grand celebration and bright moonlight dancing in the sunbeams from the heavy-hewn windows in the stone walls.

“Deadlock?”

“Mm?”, he grunted from where he perched more than anything- like some kind of cat, a begrudging tom in an alley he knew well- rebraiding his heavy hair.

“When’s your birthday?”

“Dunno.”, was his simple answer, matter of fact and blunt as he always was in stark contrast to his twin, “Been so long since I pondered it I just. Put it outta my mind. If it’s a new year I just add one to my age.”

He glanced over to see Kris aghast, and blinked, “….What.”

“Deadlock, that’s AWFUL- birthdays are so fun to celebrate; just a day of being happy and eating good food with the ones you care about and getting nice things and-”

He raised his hand to calm her words with a chuckle, looping the partial braid around opposite fingers, “Hey, hey now- I never said I didn’t CELEBRATE, just that I didn’t know the exact day Kris.”

She frowned, “Oh, really. And what do you call celebrate, huh.”

“Er. Well, uhm. Ah.”

“Drinking himself stupid and falling asleep in the back of the bar.”, was the flat comment from just out of sight, across the hall. Starscream’s sharp-edged frown was almost louder than his just-as-sharp voice as he crossed his arms, “Your brother has arrived, General.”

“Appreciated, concubine.”

“WHY YOU LITTLE-”

“HEY!”

Both looked to Kris, having jumped slightly at the raise of her voice. With a gently smug grin she looked from one to the other and said cheerily, “Don’t make me call Megafather.”

A chorus of annoyed huffs at her soft giggling; it was a viable threat, and the both of them knew it- Megatron was… Fr all intents and purposes NOTORIOUS for “adopting” those he was closest to, resulting in an odd and sprawling something-like-a-family. And Kris, it was known well, was a favorite.

“The sheer cheek of you sometimes.”, said Starscream, the scold in his voice not reaching the amused glint in his eyes, “Using my leige against me in such a way- I am shocked and scandlaized to the core!”

“Uh huh, course you are.”, snorted Kris, getting up from the bench, “Either way, both of you be nice or I’ll charm the palace garden to call you dumdums again during a speech.”

The soft squawk of “Rude!” was lost on the pair as they took their leave- Deadlock outright guffawing with flashes of odd fang and crooked gazes as he reached up to ruffle Kris’s hair. His hands went back to braiding as they strolled through the halls to the main entry where Drift stood in… some kind of stalemate with Megatron himself.

The king looked the furthest from threatened, instead looking on the verge of belting out his cast-iron laughter from the bottome of his chest as Drift’s hair seemed to fluff slightly in annoyance.

Deadlock raised both eyebrows, tying off the bottom of his last braid in a knot (as he ignored Kris’s chime of ‘Use a tie, would you?’) and putting his hands on his hips.

“What brings the evil twin to the palace, huh?”

“Deadlock, we BOTH know you’re the evil one- that’s why you’re so short.”

“OI.”

Megatron wheezed softly, shoulders shaking as the twins began immediately arguing as Kris sighed and rubbed her temples with the heels of her hands before looking to the King, “So, what’s the news, Sire?”

“Due to the… recent discovery of Drift and Deadlock’s lineage- there has been a formal invitation to a celebration in their honor. Something about their blood family wishing to welcome them back into the fold, so to speak.”

Kris flinched, trying hard to hide it and knowing she failed when the twins’s feline eyes locked onto her and squinted, killing their argument in a moment, “Oh, well, that’s good! When are they due to leave, then?”

“One week from now- an escort will be sent here to collect them and the journey will begin the morning after the escort’s arrival.”, said Megatron, his tone low and knowing as it always was as he glanced at the twins.

Kris forced her smile to stay, forced away the tremble that threatened her lips- she was an adult, she was grown and she would NOT cry even though…

“Oh- they’ll be. Leaving on my birthday.”

“So it seems.”

“Like HELL I am!”, snapped Deadlock, braids twitched as they tried to almost bottlebrush like cat tails, “I promised Kris I was gonna take her with me inta the city for her birthday and I ain’t going back on my damn promise cause a buncha HOITY TOITY MAGICIANS wanna wax fuckin’ poetic about my dead damn mother!”

Megatron glanced to Drift, eyebrows raised expectantly as though waiting for the calmer twin to assuay his brother’s anger- only to be pleasantly surprised.

“I agree with Deadlock- I also have previous commitments to Kris’s birthday that I will NOT be going back on, bloodline duty or not.”, was the frigid sentence hissed at the intrigued King.

“Kris’s more family than any’a those people anyway.”, spat Deadlock.

“Sadly, I have no say in this.”, said Megatron simply, “And unless you two can figure out a means of working it out, then my hand are tied; sadly, blood family has more right to you than I do.”

Drift hissed and swore, finger in Megatron’s face and clawtip dangerously close to the King’s amused and reflected in the liege’s amused expression before Deadlock jolted up, looking at Kris with a snarky grin blooming over a scarred face.

“Kris- your birthday’s in exactly seven days, right?”

She nodded, jerked out of an internal circle of ‘They called me family!’ chased with ‘But no one else wants me, so does it matter?’ and she cleared her throat, “Uh, yea, yep!”

Deadlock looked at Drift, the glimmer in his ambered eyes bright and mischievous, “Hey, brother- I think I just remembered our birthday, what about you?”

The shine passed to Drift, who’s wolfish grin was almost out of place, “I think I just did too.”

Megatron broke then, his forgefire laugh rumbling out amongst them all as his scarred and badly-healed hand covered his stomach, “I see! How interesting- I would love to see the messenger’s reaction to such a development- Drift, oblige an old man and fetch the courier; I’d say he’s still at attention at the door.”

A sharp nod, and the taller twin stalked off- not unlike an angry cougar as Deadlock huffed and stood easily beside Kris.

“Either they accept ALL a my family or they get none’f it.”, he growled, flexing his fingers slowly against his sleeves as he crossed his arms.

Kris coughed, masking it with a chuckle before nudging Deadlock with an elbow, “Aaaaw, got used to havin’ an awesome cousin like me, huh?”, she teased.

“Cousin nothin’ you’re a siblin’- same as Drift.”

Kris froze, Megatron grinned wide, and everyone turned to see Drift all-but dragging a stammering courier behind him with gleeful mock-viciousness on his face.

Megatron shook his head as Kris blinked in a stunned manner at Deadlock- watching as the Hellcat of the Kaonite Army fussed with his braids again, grumbling to himself as he dug in a pocket to pull out the little braided ties Kris had gifted him over the solstice with a warning to stop tying his hair in knots.

The realization that he had kept them seemed to shake her even further, making her stomach tie itself in knots as she remembered the last time a voice called her Sister.


	2. Gifts After A Fashion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He’s my big brother.”  
> “I am aware.”

The activity that followed was a wild whirlwind- a bustling breeze of Deadlock and Starscream bickering, Drift and Deadlock plotting, Megatron laughing at Starscream’s demands-

And Kris being fitted for light armor- armor that she noticed matched Deadlock’s in far too many ways to be a coincidence.

She narrowed her eyes at Starscream as he fussed around her, plucking at seams with nails like obsidian slices (painted with charmed enamel paint, of course) before she crossed her arms and made him stop cold.

“He’s my big brother.”

“I am aware.”

“Matching stuff like this is for marriage candidates, Starscream. He’s my BROTHER not a SUITOR and I SWEAR if this is some kind of stupid plot-!”

“It ain’t.”, grumbled the General from where he lounged.

Starscream chuckled fondly, patting Kris’s cheek carefully, “This was Deadlock’s request. To keep you safe. You are a User, one blessed with natural magical ability. Unfortunately, that can have some… unfortunate side effects.”

“Y’get tired, Kris.”, said Deadlock flatly, batting Starscream away and kneeling down. He patted his thigh after pointing at Kris’s left foot, “An’ that leaves you open t’attack. ‘S why this looks like mine. ‘Serker mesh plate.”

“Serker?”

Starscream rolled his eyes, “The vulgarity with which you disrespect the lingua franca both appalls me and offends me, General.”, a cleared throat as Deadlock glared and made a rude gesture with both hands before turning to the fastenings and belts beneath each portion of the segmented covering, “He means Berserker. Much like Megatron.”

“Berserker?”

“It’s… for lack of a better explanation, it’s a way of fighting. It’s a natural reaction to bloodlust or battlelust. Those who experience it to certain degrees are known as Berserkers- they seem to no longer register pain or injury, and are known to go manic in the midst of fighting, oftentimes taking down multitudes of enemies with little to no worry nor care.”

Kris’s eyes widened before she looked down at the bowed head of Deadlock.

“’S why they call me Hellcat.”, said Deadlock with a shrug, “I go a little woohoo in the head, y’know? Then quick as y’like suddenly everything’s dead and my legs give out.”

“Battle exhaustion.”, said Starscream with a nod, “Not unlike the deadness or tiredness that sets in after intense use of natural or magical skill.”

“Yep- so this kinda armor, like mine, can keep you safe if you go down by accident or with no choice.”, continued Deadlock, “Can’t have my li’l sister gettin’ her nose broken cause some bandit decided t’pop up and say Hello while tryin’ to rob us blind. It’s light enough to not restrict your movement, sturdy enough to protect the squishy bits, and flexible enough to not warp if you use magic.”

Kris blinked, before softly saying, “...Oh.”

“You’re family. I wanna p’rtect you.”, huffed Deadlock, patting for her to switch feet, “It was S’POSED to wait til your birthday but stupid BULLSHIT had to spring up like a damn summer weed...”

Kris couldn’t help her laughter at the dramatic pout on Deadlock’s face as Starscream hid his fond grin with one overlong sleeve and Drift chose that moment to clatter in looking like he’d seen a ghost wth a smattering of ash tree leaves in his hair.

Kris looked at him, full on belly laughing at his harried appearance as Deadlock looked over his shoulder.

“LOVE seeing a necromancer delivery squad at Half Past Hell No in the afternoon.”, wheezed the warrior monk, adjusting his swordbelt from where it hung crooked over his wide hips and holding up a silk wrapped package, “By the way, this is from Perceptor- delivered by fucking CENTIPEDES, mind you.”

Kris brightened as Deadlock patted her calf and leaned back to let her reclaim her balance before she walked to where Drift stood- unused to the soft sounds of moving armor being so close to her and feeling surprisingly comforted by it as she reached out for the folded silk in Drift’s hands.

She pulled away the wrapping, scolding each of her ‘brothers’ in turn for trying to hurry her along out of nosiness before she squealed happily.

“...A fuckin’ book?”

“How OLD is that ratty thing??”

“Perceptor said Altihex had a whole bunch of old healer’s tomes!”, she said excitedly, “He offered to see if he could send me any of them after seeing my garden and helping me with- Erm. Nevermind-”

“Helpin’ you with WHAT exactly, I fuckin’ swear t’Primus Kris did that little dead jester make a move on you-”

“NO Deadlock.”, said Drift and Kris in perfect stereo; making him rear back like a cat faced with running faucet.

Kris let her fingertips dance over the engraved leather cover, “Erm, well- when I found out about Perceptor’s uh… Abilities, and started seeing him around because of the new princess… I asked him for. Help with something. With my family.”

“With your f- Oh.”

Kris nodded, “He. Helped me say goodbye.”

“..Well, I guess he can live, sorta.”

Drift cocked an eyebrow, his expression flat, “What’re you gonna do, jump in front of his weird dead weapons like an idiot?”

“You TAKE THAT BACK-”

“WHY, NOT MY FAULT YOU HAVE ALL THE SKILL OF A BRICK W A L L-”

Kris sighed heavily, watching her adoptive brothers fight before looking to Starscream, who pinched his nosebridge and simply beckoned her back over for him to check the sizing of the chestplate she now wore.

She cracked open her gifted book, losing herself in the many uses of goldvine and gallowflower as cold remedies while the twins battled each other angrily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece commissioned by skelemamabirb on Tumblr.


	3. Embroidery, Or Stitching Like It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “He is NOT teaching our little sister how to cheat at cards!”  
> “Yeah, Kris- I’ve told ya that dice are way easier and the payoff is nicer-”

Which brings her to now- Sitting in a faraway land and draped in new silks with her slightly less new armor carefully stored in the royal room she is staying in. She worried, at first, when they had arrived- feeling acutely un-royal for the first time since Megatron offered a hand gloved in silk and chainmail and asked her where her parents were.

Remembering crying when she said “Gone, just gone.”

She sipped a cool cordial, bubbly and bright on the tongue as she watched in some kind of sibling glee as Drift and Deadlock looked dead inside on dramatic display as they slogged through introduction their heart really wasn’t in. The strange people around her- part man part not in all manner of configurations, were odd but welcoming; a peculiar glitter in the eye of the Emperor Prince (or whatever he had been called, the cordial was getting to her) when Drift and Deadlock had gruffly informed those gathered that she was with them, was family, was their little sister.

How Deadlock had shot down an out of place uppity scoff of “Do you mean harem-girl mayhaps?” with a coldly vicious “No, I mean family, like what y’all didn’t FUCKING give me or my brother till you rolled up to a birth with stupid words and STUPIDER headgear.”

It had taken a lot to not snort out loud. Drift had, grandly, failed- instead choosing to forgo his usually demure behavior to laugh loud enough to show the gold cap on one of his fanged teeth.

The Emperor Prince Person (oh, she shouldn’t be drinking this much, maybe) had laughed and waved it all off, instead insisting that all three of them be welcomed wholly and fully- saying something that Kris felt would stick with her for as long as her mind would hold it tight.

‘Where bloodlines fail, kindred spirits succeed.’

She thought back to the tapestries in Megatron’s palace- their rough fabric and soft stories and realized that maybe the pair of twins who had just… decided she was of them could be the dyed coarse wool.

Carded and carded and wound and woven, helping her hold high the memories that suddenly sidled up beside her surrounded in the voice of her anxieties- The taunting accusations of the shadowy parts of her hear that sentenced and punished her for forgetting, for living, for surviving, for moving forward-

And then her growing hair was ruffled by clawed hands, and Drift was dropping onto the seat beside her while Deadlock stole a few strawberries from the plate in front of her and she mock-whined in annoyance before cackling at Drift’s yowling when Deadlock spat a seed at him for mocking the way the juice smeared all over the General’s face.

Kris wheezed as Drift rolled his eyes before she reached for the decanter to refill her glass.

“I propose a toast!”, she cheered, her cheeks reddened and her brothers following suit (with only a light smack to Deadlock’s hand as he reached for dark beer all three of them knew would make him feel hellish in the morning), “To a happy birthday to all three of us!”

Deadlock raised his glass to clink it with Kris’s in unison with Drift, laughing out his agreement before they all downed something entirely too sweet entirely too quickly. There were titters of laughter around them amongst the revelry- Royals and Nobles alike smiling with something knowing in their eyes as Kris wobbled to her feet and tugged at the twins to get up with her.

“C’mon, let’s do something fun! Lock, you said you could teach me how to count cards-”

“He is NOT teaching our little sister how to cheat at cards!”

“Yeah, Kris- I’ve told ya that dice are way easier and the payoff is nicer-”

“Could you not be a criminal for FIVE. MINUTES. Deadlock!”

“When you stop being a FREAKY MONK maybe I will.”

Kris sighs heavily, before erupting into tipsy giggling and pulling at their arms, “C’mon- let’s go where the music is; You two can dance right?”

Deadlock groaned as Drift smiled like a crescent moon and announced, “Deadlock can better than me- his hips are bigger.”

“Fuckin’ shut up Drift.”

But that didn’t stop Kris from hopping onto his back when he turned it to Drift to dramatically complain- he hooked his arms under her legs in a piggyback carry and began walking in the direction Kris pointed, Drift complaining that Deadlock never carried HIM piggyback.

Kris giggled and cackled as she folded her arms on top of Deadlock’s head, minding the beads now woven into his thick hair as she rested her chin against her forearms and rolled her eyes at the twins’s bickering.

Back home, far and away in a dim stone palace- days and drinks away from the three foundling siblings, a tapestry fluttered. The stitched story of brothers and sisters and stars rippled in the breeze, showing a glimpse of the patches dotting the back of it- scraps of fabric from mothers aprons and fathers shirts and the crooked stitches of unpracticed brothers and sisters.

No tapestry lasts forever- but by finding new pieces and new threads, it can be a story unending; so long as where bloodlines fail and end…. Kindred spirits join hands and succeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece commissioned by skelemamabirb on Tumblr.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a commissioned piece by skelemamabirb on Tumblr.


End file.
